Roger Federer has put it out there that he will no longer play when he’s injured. Last year Federer nursed a back injury for much of the season. And the injury, he says, led in part to his poor results. Looking back, Federer regrets playing and vows not to play anymore when’s he’s not in perfect health.

Talking about his back injury he struggled with at Indian Wells one year ago, Federer said it hurt his ability to train for the clay and summer seasons.

“The injury,” Federer said Saturday referring to his back, “took me three weeks probably. And out of those seven weeks I was looking forward to taking two weeks off and then training for five weeks basically, and I could only train for like two weeks. So actually, instead of coming out of the training block strong and fit like a fiddle, I came out like, you know, halfway.

“That’s why my results were mediocre. I think they were okay. I mean, I did play the finals in Rome and quarters in Paris, won Halle. It was okay, but I realized I’m missing training, I’m missing things, my confidence is not there.

“So the rest I took, I had to take it at the end (after Wimbledon), and I believe my results would have been different could I have trained 100 percent, because then many things happened with my mind, I lost confidence in my movement. The back issue didn’t quite go away really ever through that entire stretch.

“But I did decide to play Hamburg and Gstaad, added that to the schedule, but then got hurt again in Hamburg, should not have finished the tournament there, should not have played Gstaad, but I was like, I’m already here. It’s not crazy bad, but it’s bad enough that I shouldn’t be playing but I want to play.
And then from then on I just had to take a clear decision that I will just not play when I feel this way anymore in the future. That’s the promise I made to myself.”

With the back healthy again, Federer’s results this year have returned to form. The 32-year-old who’s also added a bigger racquet and Stefan Edberg for the new season, just won Dubai after a semifinal at the Australian Open. And even though he ranks No. 8 still in the ATP Rankings, he’s No. 4 in the 2014 points only race.

“I’m just happy that I’m healthy again and that I can focus on tactics and not focus on am I feeling all right, you know, when I wake up tomorrow or am I going to feel better tomorrow, that kind of stuff,” added Federer. “I went through that weeks and months, like every day I hoped there was going to be a little improvement. I only started to feel that improvement halfway through sort of the US Open maybe, so it was a long time. I was fighting it, you know, all the way from Indian Wells really.

“I’m just happy that now it’s clear, I don’t have to think of it, and I can just play tennis. When you can play that way, you’re more free, you have an open mind.”

Federer will be back on US soil later this week for Indian Wells which starts on Thursday. The Swiss has won the title four times most recently in 2012.

Watch his matches in the last few months of 2013 and those in the middle stretching as far back as Mar 2013 when he first injured his back, and you can see a clear difference. For most of 2013 his movement was hampered and his backhand wasn’t firing at all, the first thing to be affected in the case of a back injury.he should have taken time off, but he didn’t. These are not excuses, just facts.

Severin Luthi talked about Federer’s back late last year at World tour finals.he explained that the back was the real problem after he got injured in Indian wells and hampered training. He explains that Federer added more tournaments to gain practice but hurt his back again. He also said that he wasn’t making excuses for Federer but just tallking facts.

A breath of fresh air for Fed to be asked about his back in interview and for him to respond so candidly. Most definitely taken the limelight from Rafa’s million interviews discussion for the millionth time his knees, his blisters, his back, his stomach, his disbelief of ever winning a tournament again because of his injuries.

“such a credit to a lucky, healthy man.”
Obvioulsy Roger has had health and injury problems just like every other human on the planet. Difference is he doesn’t consistently use it as an excuse nor consistently whine about it. A man’s man.

9 mos? What does that mean? Point is he doesn’t have a career about using injuries as an excuse to winning or losing. As far as his racket doing the talking, he’s already started out this year doing just that!

“Point is he doesn’t have a career about using injuries ….”
No, the point is he hasn’t had a career filled with injuries as has other players. The odd backache or so? Call that injury? He should speak to some of the long suffering players for enlightenment in that regard and so should some of the fed belles on here.

@Giles
you really need to chill… all that hate towards Federer is not healthy. A niggle is something that doesn’t hinder your movement or ability to play. Nadal could still play in spite of the injured knee; was that a niggle? Of course not, and when I see Federer walking like Donald duck around the court, without being able to bend is back I know it’s serious.

” There’s an asterisk next to Federer’s merriment in Dubai. He beat everyone he could. But he didn’t beat that S.O.B Nadal.”

That’s just. Beating Nadal IS the Holy Grail in tennis, but Edberg despairs as he said after Rafa beat Fed in Australia:

Open:Australian Roger Federer still can’t figure out Rafael Nadal

“Coming into the match I thought we would have a chance today but the way the match came about, Rafa played very, very well and Roger didn’t have that many chances,” Edberg told a small group of reporters.

“Playing against Rafa at this level is very hard,” he added. “It wasn’t enough today, but I think he’s made a lot of progress over the last three months.

Hum, I’m not sure I agree with the statement saying that Federer can´t figure out Nadal. He has managed to beat him 10 times so he should have an idea on how to beat him. To me most of the times Federer’s problem against Nadal lies in his approach to the game which is pretty negative. His body language just has DEFEAT written all over. I think during their last match at the AO that was pretty obvious…

It seems to me that Federer has never played Nadal when the latter has an off day. Nadal always seem to be in his best form whenever the two meet. I have seen Nadal against other players when he was not in peak form and still win but Federer would have fared better. I keep wondering why Federer never had the luck of getting him on days like that.

– rafa was a BABY when prime fed came back from two sets down to beat him in 2005 miami final. Babies don’t have that much stamina to last that long

– the baby was still a baby in 2006. So he lost to a primed fed at wimbledon in 4 sets

– baby lost in hamburg to fed in 2007 because of fatigue

– baby ( 2 years older than he was in 2005 but STILL A BABY!) lost to fed in wimby final again due to being still a baby and playing 5 setters early in the semi (pick either or both as reasons for the loss)

– baby rafa came of age after beating fed on grass and Hc slam final. But he lost to fed in madrid 09. Why?? Long 3 setter against djokovic before playing fed.

– rafa lost in 2010 wtf to fed. Same reason. Playing long 3 setter against murray

– lost in 2011 round robin match due to bad stomach!

– lost indian wells 2012 clash due to windy conditions. ( but rafa forgot to mention any injury. He mustve been hurt. Otherwise, he’d have mastered that wind and beat fed 6-0, 6-0, no?)

Indoors, full credit to Fed, he is the master, no question, didn’t say otherwise.

Yeah, pretty much under 23, no player in today’s game is “matured” or in their prime so, in that sense, they are still a baby. Just ask 22 year old Baby Fed (who turns 23 in May, and has started to ramp up his game in case you haven’t noticed).

@Siruis,
You forgot the 2 bagels he has given Rafa in finals also ;). Oh wait…doesn’t count, no? Rafa had a niggle or something, no? Had to be.
—
“Indoors, full credit to Fed, he is the master, no question, didn’t say otherwise.”
Sorry, that is an insult to the man. What is he the master of again? Slams, on all surfaces he has mastered them. 17 times.

Roger seems to be turning into quite a contrarian. Just a few months ago he was suggesting it was cowardly of a player to take time off for an injury by stating “I won’t go into a corner and hide for 4 months”. (And we all know who he was jabbing with that comment). So now he thinks it’s wise to go away and recover? Inconsistent, Roger.

the DA,
Well I would like to look at the interview to get the context of what that meant. Regardless, I don’t know how you can label Fed a contrarian when he openly said he made a mistake of playing injured. He obviously feels different about it now. My 2 cents is he has gotten older now and can’t play through those things anymore without losing productivity as he was able to do in his younger years. Welcome to getting older.

Roger is very good at seizing opportunities when he does not have competition. Just like in the dead tennis zone after Sampras and aging Agassi. That no sooner when Novak is not going to play Davis cup, Rafa’s Spain out of contention due to his lenghty absence, all of the sudden Roger became patriotic????

So transparent!

Roger is at all is plain lucky player. Had he been with Rafa’s group he would be pressed to even get four slams.

Oh that is right, Roger was indeed lucky to even win French! Because. rafa was injured.

(Sigh)Why cant people just enjoy watching their favorites,but admire and respect the achievements of their rivals,instead of pulling these two amazing players to pieces,both win and both lose its all part of the game,its a shame people cant just enjoy the beautiful game of tennis,niether will be around for ever and the game will be all the poorer when they have gone,that much is for sure,Rogers fans cant resist mentioning Rafas even on a Roger thread,Rafas fans cant resist mentioning Roger even on a Rafa thread,blimey for fans that dont really care for their favorites rivals they sure as hell spend alot of time talking about them.

A healthy, grown-up almost 28 year old Nadal never loses to Federer. Baby Nadal losing is excusable. Post 2008 big boy Nadal should never lose to Federer anywhere, any time of year. Those are the rules.

Oh boy. IW draw underway. Rafa/Andy/Stan in the same half. This is why he needs to get back into the top 4. Tough on both Rafa & Andy to meet in the QFs. At least Fed fans can breathe a sigh of relief ;)

Federer won Wimbledon in 2012 with a bad back and you could see how it affected his movement. It wasn’t like he had an injury timeout and then came out in beast mode like we see with some other players.

Such a pre-emptive ruse so that when Roger finds himself struggling again, has a ready-made exit to retirement.

Have you noticed that most of his high profile but@kissing fans in Evert, Sampras, etc have been on the offensive desperately propping up Roger?? That the reckoning of the dominant 23-10 just trumps whatever the lucky Federer did.
Defeated Roger in grass when Nadal is just a claycourter (imagine that), woefully defeated Roger in outdoor hardcourts, when everybody discounts Rafa’s play will not translate in low bouncing fast hard courts? Only for Roger to do a boohoo wah crying embarrassment, but no sooner just manhandled Roger in INDOORS!!! As it is Rogerlings have no arguments anymore that the only desperate thing to say is — roger is artistic, balletic style — to distinguish him from the more macho gladiator warrior in Nadal. You want artistry go ser figure skating! Such pronouncements make tennis even more effeminate in perception.

But when Rafa toys with Roger in hard, clay or grass Roger is yo-yoing with arms flailing, rackets flying off the grips, tripping at the net. Artistic? Lol.

Yeah, a nice way to exit without losing face. Roger knows it’s coming. And it is not going to be pretty.

Such a long winded gibberish. Why doesn’t Rafa have mist all the records in Tennis? Is he too busy “owning Fed?” Meanwhile, Fed has earned them all. Slams, weeks @#1, ( a record Rafa will never ever achieve ). Again the argument from vamosheads always goes to h2h. Sorry , you don’t get titles and Slams that way. U have to beat the draw, like a rosol, or darcis, etc. Hehe…

Following the train of thought here, why should we give any credit to Andy Murray for defeating Federer in the finals in the 2012 summer Olympics? The fact is the Delpotro/Federer semis took such a long time and Delpo took everything, I mean everything, out of Federer. In the finals a day or two after, Federer had nothing left to give, and it was obvious to the whole world. Now, if we go by this logic, I guess there will be so many winners that we will not give any credit to just because their opponent was tired from the previous match!

Polo Says:
It seems to me that Federer has never played Nadal when the latter has an off day. Nadal always seem to be in his best form whenever the two meet. I have seen Nadal against other players when he was not in peak form and still win but Federer would have fared better. I keep wondering why Federer never had the luck of getting him on days like that.

March 4th, 2014 at 3:35 pm

skeezer, I was responding to Polo who satrted with the flimsy excuses for Roger’s losses to Rafa.

Federer has the ideal physique and fluidity to be a tennis player. Tall but not too tall. Strong but not too muscular. His game is physical but easy on his body (relatively speaking of course). He’s has had some genetic help in terms of durability. This being said, never retiring from a single match is a remarkable accomplishment. Particularly when you consider how long he’s played and how many matches he’s played in. I guess the secret’s out now…Federer’s not a bad tennis player.

If people actually read the article Federer basically admits his stance was wrong in not taking off time to recover from injury. So no that doesn’t make him contradictory because he’s saying he learnt from experience to change his view on the issue.

@rafaeli which weak era are you talking about? Surely the current one where Federer got “handed” a match by prime Djokovic to go on to win Dubai right? Yeah that’s why his “boring” lob tweener (with added spin) was called artistic and marveled so much…because of this damn weak era.

Seriously you KADs must be what 12 years old with the kind of statements you come out with.

Look at the top ten now. Never seen a sorrier bunch. Djokovic – the apathetic slacker, Murray and Delpo – perpetually injured, Berdych and Tsonga – mentally weak, Ferrer – too weak and winky for the weak Federer, even. The rest are one-handed backhands – one of which beat Nadal in a GS. Enough said.

Those ‘elegant and artistic tags’ and ‘boring shots’ combined with much of what SG1 says are what have established Roger as an icon within the sporting world and well beyond it. You, Rafaeli, need to open your mind and eyes to the wider picture.

The fact is there will never be old Nadal. He will blame his “injuries” once again when he retires, not very old, but enough that he can’t run like a rabbit anymore and outpower everyone in tour. And he will say “I will not play when I am not 100%”. Humble, as usual.

I think everyone in the tennis world agrees that Roger has the most amazing athletic genes on the planet…..why would a perfectly fit guy retire?? Your comment going on and on about tennis players who have retired because of injuries or illnesses is impertinent to any discussion regarding Roger and injuries. He had mono once and if he was able to play with that, I’ll have to say he didn’t really have it. If his back is really hurt he won’t be able to play, simple as that! He’s just fortunate that his body has never let him down, lucky him…..this guy doesn’t even sweat! He is a great player who has never had to retire…….good for him!!

“Here’s a list of Federer’ s retirements…….a list?? If he’s never retired how can there be a list? All you had to say was Roger has played in 1,154 matches and never retired……just saying!

I have had a couple of friends that have had Mono,and they were so ill they couldnt even get out of bed never mind run around playing tennis,so although i dont doubt Roger had it, but it surely must have been only a mild dose?TBH i didnt even know he had it at Wimbledon 2008,and i wouldnt have guessed it either,and he seemed to sail through the draw pretty easily,until facing Rafa in the final.

Right Chic, you won’t be playing tennis with mono. I had two friends that each lost one year of college. It’s a nasty disease. Complete bed rest is the cure.
Roger has come out of the closet about his
ailments…..big deal……glad he did…..now he and Rafa really have something in common…..blaming losses on injuries…..I say this in jest because I will give the players the benefit of the doubt regarding injuries and illnesses. I believe them.